RIP Dimebag Darrell Abbott
It's been a few days since I've written here. I think I jinxed myself by saying that work has been too slow lately, because I've been swamped all week. Plus, I've been going over to Mary's house to cook her dinner every night this week, so I haven't had time to write.In today's news, some asshole killed the former guitarist for Pantera as he played with his band, Damageplan, in Ohio last night. The shooter killed three other people as well before he himself was shot dead by a police officer.
I was never all that into heavy metal music, but as a testament to my diverse musical tastes in my youth, I did see Pantera in concert once in 1994 at an arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Back then I was into a schizophrenic mix of the Grateful Dead/Phish, House/Techno/Acid, Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Tool, and whatever else was fun to party to, including Pantera.
I was a freshman at a small college near Greensboro, NC when I saw them play. I went to the show with a few upperclassmen football players (one of whom was a guy from my hometown in Connecticut who I went to high school with). We had an insanely good time at the show. We drank and smoked heavily first, as I was known to do back in those days, and arrived at the show just as Pharcyde (the opening act) was wrapping up their set.
The floor was general admission, but it had filled up and security wouldn't let anyone else down there. The guys I was with were determined to get to the floor, so we waited near the long, steep staircase leading down. Within minutes, I found myself in a sea of people bulldozing over the security personell trying to block the stairs. I didn't have any choice but to go with the flow, as I would have been trampled by the mob.
I was pretty much sliding head first down these stairs on top of other people, and then I looked back and saw a security guard about two inches away from grabbing me. All of a sudden, someone had grabbed the back of my shirt and was dragging me in the opposite direction. I suddenly found myself being dragged about 100 feet across the floor by a kind stranger and was safely away from security.
We ended up being in the very front row at a show where there must have been 20,000 people. There was a crazy mosh pit, but somehow it seemed like most people were being as friendly as any hippie-ass Dead show I'd ever been to (except the dancing is just a little more violent and there are a few more psychos). The show had such a high energy, positive vibe, even though some people might think the music sounds negative, or evil, or whatever.
I haven't thought about that show in years. Funny how a brutal muder can stir up memories of the past. What a fucking shitty world we live in.
...I shall write more later about other things...
posted by Skrambled Egghead Reborn @ 11:23 AM
<< Home